A recent item from BBC News points to the massive gap between demand and supply for higher education in India and provides a broad sketch of options that Indian students consider for further studies in the region or abroad.

As a concrete illustration of demand in a key field such as Engineering, BBC notes that there are only 10,000 places a year at the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), an institution that offers world-class training at a heavily subsidized cost for Indian students. However, the competition for those spaces is fierce. Nearly one million Indian students sit the All India Engineering Entrance Exam (AIEE) each year, and in 2010 about half of those exam takers were aiming for a spot at IIT.

In other words, about one percent of the students who sit the AIEE will be offered a spot at IIT, leaving 99% of the field–many of whom are highly qualified students in their own right–without a space and in need of other study options.

The BBC notes that study abroad is an alternative that many of these students will consider, including studies at regional campuses established by European, American or Australian institutions in Southeast Asia. Please see “Asia’s students weigh up college options” for additional background and insights on the choices facing Indian students.